With my English/Spanish dictionary in hand, I headed for the centro mercado.

The mercado is one square city block, covered. Under the cover you’ll find 20-30 vendors. Some sell beans and rice. Some sell vegetables. Some sell meat and still others sell dairy products. Has no one told these guys about the “super market”?

It can be hard to find what you are looking for unless there’s a picture of it on the label. Very few merchants speak any English and I found the dictionary I have contains many words they don’t understand. The dialect varies vastly in different areas of the country.

I find it hysterical when I ask a question, using my very best Spanish pronunciation, and they say, “No Ingles!” That’s NOT English, that’s Spanish!

It’s quite overwhelming. Between not recognizing what you are looking at and not knowing how to ask for what you want, shopping can require a lot of time and a lot of patience.

I was exceedingly proud of myself. I managed to arrive home with exactly the items I had set out to get. Almonds, oats, granola, tomatoes, avocadoes, chips, eggs, yogurt. Score!

Fabulous Friends

Later in the evening, we dinghied over to Mark and Deanna’s. Their cockpit is as large as our “living room”. We sat outside, visited and enjoyed the guacamole I had prepared. They liked the recipe so much I thought I would share it with you, also.

Susan’s Famous Guacamole

2 large, ripe avocados

½ tomato, chopped fine

¼ C. pineapple, crushed

1 tsp (heaping) minced garlic

Lemon juice of 1/2 lemon

Salt

Combine ingredients and smoosh.

Deanna served a marvelous chicken dish she had prepared in her pressure cooker. The four of us had a really fun time together. It’s sad to know we may or may not ever see our friends again. They are leaving tomorrow, back up the coast, to be in Mazatlan the first of March, in time for a trip home to Canada. We’ll look for you on the AIS, mi amigos.

Surprisingly, when we left, it was pouring rain. We dinghied home in the rain.